Max Verstappen dominated and won a wet and bizarre 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, and was declared 2022 World Drivers’ Champion in confusing fashion that seemingly went against the FIA rulebook.
Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez had a furious battle for second that came down to the final chicane, where Leclerc went off while trying to defend Perez and then came back to beat Perez to the line without losing second. Leclerc would be given a five second penalty and would finish third while Perez ended up second to Verstappen by over 26 seconds.
Because the race only went 28 of 53 laps, theoretically the rulebook states that there should be a modified point system in place that awards 19 points to the winner, 14 to second, and 12 to third. Under this system, Verstappen would leave the land of the rising sun up 111 points, leaving him one point shy of the 112 point minimum to clinch. But the FIA awarded points on its typical 25-18-15 system instead, clinching the championship for the Dutchman.
It appears that the rewording of the regulations after the Spa debacle relates solely to races which are suspended and not restarted. As such, it appears that the regs therefore determine that if a race ends with the chequered flag, regardless of laps run, it scores full points.
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) October 9, 2022
On lap one, Sebastian Vettel spun out in the first turn at the start after colliding with Fernando Alonso. Both drivers were able to continue on with little-to-no damage, with Vettel ultimately nipping Alonso at the line by 0.011 seconds for sixth.
Carlos Sainz then spun out coming out of the hairpin turn 11 and stalled out. Alex Albon made it not much further before pulling off after failing to get out of second gear in his Williams, not making it to turn 13 on the first lap. These retired cars caused a full safety car, and the lack of vision due to the spray being generated from the cars forced a red flag.
During the red flag start, Pierre Gasly first hit a sign that had come onto the track and couldn’t see, then almost hit a tractor that was on-track attempting to begin the clean-up process. This brought mounds of condemnation from many in the sport during the red flag, with several drivers tweeting about their disapproval, especially after a statement from the FIA seemed to put more blame to Gasly than to themselves. This incident will be under review and may lead to rule changes in the coming offseason.
Pierre Gasly was…
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